Oilers culture issues
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hangman005
I still miss Logan Thompson
The Panther
Registered User
Not understanding the point of this thread.
The Oilers are currently Western Conference champions (better position than any club in the NHL except one) and are 10th overall in the standings, still coming out of about a six-week slump. From November 1st, they're the 5th best team in the NHL, despite their top guy having an off year, and another four or five guys having offensive regression seasons.
Foegele was kind of a write-off unless they wanted to pay a third-line guy $3.5 million a year, which they understandably didn't. I would rather have kept him on the team, but with his contract expectation, he was expendable.
Broberg had wanted out of Edmonton from a year before he signed the offer sheet simply because he wasn't playing in the NHL. The team obviously felt Brett Kulak was more valuable as a left-D while the team is in a "win-now" mentality. Whether that's correct or not is debatable, but Kulak has had a great season. Would I rather have him right now or have Broberg for a playoff run? I'd probably rather have Kulak, who's had a great season (except for the past month when, as with the team as a whole, he's struggled a bit).
(By the way, remember the first 15 games of the regular season, when Broberg looked amazing? Everyone on here was losing their minds, and I was saying, "Okay, just wait the rest of the year to see how he does." Of course, some people just couldn't accept that 15 games in October/November weren't the final arbiter of whether a player acquisition was highly successful or not. Since then, Broberg is scoring at a pace for 18 points in a full season. Which is not to say that Broberg isn't a good player...)
Ryan McLeod... It's hard to call at this point. He was a valuable third-liner for Edmonton, and is (predictably) scoring a bit more in a bigger role on a bad team this season. Would I rather the Oilers had kept him? Probably, yes. But it seems they decided to go with the veteran, Adam Henrique, instead. So far this has not paid dividends, but the tale will told in the playoffs (which McLeod won't participate in), when we'll see if Henrique's veteran poise helps the team out. (He was good last spring.)
The only player loss that really bothers me is Dylan Holloway. It was clear that he was ready for prime-time duty heading into this season, and he even played well (sporadically) in the playoffs last spring. In my mind, he had certainly earned his chance to get a top-six role and see how it went from there. He was also young and speedy, two things they're getting in short supply of. Instead, outgoing GM Ken Holland left him to sit all summer, and interim guy Jeff Jackson (seemingly in an effort to placate Draisaitl by acquiring talented wingers before Drai agreed to a new contract) went after established (if somewhat one-dimensional) players in J. Skinner and Arvidsson. This move in itself seemed unnecessary as Holloway was a pretty safe bet to develop well with some guaranteed minutes... and then Jackson seemed not to have conferenced with head coach Knoblach, who clearly doesn't trust Skinner and healthy-scratches him regularly. So, the whole thing about Holloway was botched, as I see it.
Anyway, the tale will be told in this year, and maybe next year's playoffs. How well the team is doing in the regular season is neither here nor there, as a veteran-laden team isn't highly motivated by regular season opportunities to shine (as a Holloway or a Broberg is when getting real minutes for the first time).
In any case, a very pointless thread.
The Oilers are currently Western Conference champions (better position than any club in the NHL except one) and are 10th overall in the standings, still coming out of about a six-week slump. From November 1st, they're the 5th best team in the NHL, despite their top guy having an off year, and another four or five guys having offensive regression seasons.
Foegele was kind of a write-off unless they wanted to pay a third-line guy $3.5 million a year, which they understandably didn't. I would rather have kept him on the team, but with his contract expectation, he was expendable.
Broberg had wanted out of Edmonton from a year before he signed the offer sheet simply because he wasn't playing in the NHL. The team obviously felt Brett Kulak was more valuable as a left-D while the team is in a "win-now" mentality. Whether that's correct or not is debatable, but Kulak has had a great season. Would I rather have him right now or have Broberg for a playoff run? I'd probably rather have Kulak, who's had a great season (except for the past month when, as with the team as a whole, he's struggled a bit).
(By the way, remember the first 15 games of the regular season, when Broberg looked amazing? Everyone on here was losing their minds, and I was saying, "Okay, just wait the rest of the year to see how he does." Of course, some people just couldn't accept that 15 games in October/November weren't the final arbiter of whether a player acquisition was highly successful or not. Since then, Broberg is scoring at a pace for 18 points in a full season. Which is not to say that Broberg isn't a good player...)
Ryan McLeod... It's hard to call at this point. He was a valuable third-liner for Edmonton, and is (predictably) scoring a bit more in a bigger role on a bad team this season. Would I rather the Oilers had kept him? Probably, yes. But it seems they decided to go with the veteran, Adam Henrique, instead. So far this has not paid dividends, but the tale will told in the playoffs (which McLeod won't participate in), when we'll see if Henrique's veteran poise helps the team out. (He was good last spring.)
The only player loss that really bothers me is Dylan Holloway. It was clear that he was ready for prime-time duty heading into this season, and he even played well (sporadically) in the playoffs last spring. In my mind, he had certainly earned his chance to get a top-six role and see how it went from there. He was also young and speedy, two things they're getting in short supply of. Instead, outgoing GM Ken Holland left him to sit all summer, and interim guy Jeff Jackson (seemingly in an effort to placate Draisaitl by acquiring talented wingers before Drai agreed to a new contract) went after established (if somewhat one-dimensional) players in J. Skinner and Arvidsson. This move in itself seemed unnecessary as Holloway was a pretty safe bet to develop well with some guaranteed minutes... and then Jackson seemed not to have conferenced with head coach Knoblach, who clearly doesn't trust Skinner and healthy-scratches him regularly. So, the whole thing about Holloway was botched, as I see it.
Anyway, the tale will be told in this year, and maybe next year's playoffs. How well the team is doing in the regular season is neither here nor there, as a veteran-laden team isn't highly motivated by regular season opportunities to shine (as a Holloway or a Broberg is when getting real minutes for the first time).
In any case, a very pointless thread.
hangman005
I still miss Logan Thompson
That's an HFBoards special.
Seachd
Registered User
- Mar 16, 2002
- 24,936
- 8,939
Wait, young players took a “step forward”?
Smdh, what has this league turned into?
Oilslick941611
slapshot into the empty net...utterly irrelevant
from Jan 9th to feb 4th Vegas went 3-11.
from Jan 30th to March 18th the Oilers went 8-10, if we remove the last 3 games they went 5-10, if we limit the games to from the return they went 6-7 from Feb 22 to March 18th. Vegas lost a 10 point lead over the oilers for the division over this time period.
They've been bad, but really this stretch is no worse than what vegas went through and recovered, and now the Oilers are on a 3 game win streak, its possible the losing rut is over, all in all, not bad. If the streak is over, coming out of a stretch like that only 2 points back of the division is lead is ok in my books.
Why does Vegas a pass, but the Oilers get a thread?
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Oilslick941611
slapshot into the empty net...utterly irrelevant
The front office isn't the "issue" its the owner and hockey ops head.
Look how many coaches and Gm's this team has had since 2016. Its hilarious.
Just Linda
Registered User
- Feb 24, 2018
- 6,634
- 6,516
They may have been one goal away but they were also one save away as well.
Gooder goaltending would've got them a ring.
Oilslick941611
slapshot into the empty net...utterly irrelevant
not if they didn't score an extra goal. Game 7 could still be going on at 1-1.
hangman005
I still miss Logan Thompson
ManofSteel55
Registered User
Broberg, Holloway, McLeod and Foegele were all players who played depth roles on the Oilers and went to teams with less depth and flourished while getting more minutes.
That said, management made mistakes with Broberg's development, holding him back until he wanted out. They made a mistake in not matching the offer sheet on Holloway. Did they make a mistake in letting Foegele walk and bringing in Arvidsson? Maybe, but Foegele had proven he wasn't going to cut it in the Oilers top six on a consistent basis.
Oilers fans have been toxic for basically forever. Fans have chased a number of players out of town, going back to the 80s. There's no cure for that unfortunately. I agree on the Bouchard criticism. He's had some struggles this year, but nobody seems to remember how great he was in the playoffs last year.
ManofSteel55
Registered User
I don't know if this is truly accurate. The Oilers have addressed most of the holes in the organization as time goes on. They traded a bunch of futures for Ekholm, helping to solidify the blueline. They added Walman at the deadline, who is proving to be a solid addition so far. They added a key winger who has struggled with injuries this year, but is a proven scorer for us in Hyman. They looked to add to our depth scoring over the summer by adding two guys who have been very good scorers throughout their careers in Skinner and Arvidsson. Going into the season, nobody who knew anything about hockey was questioning Arvidsson's ability to score goals. There were questions about his longevity for sure, but not his goal scoring ability. He's struggled finding a rhythm in Edmonton, which happens for players joining new teams at times. Skinner is a coaching issue. He's scoring fine for the minutes he's getting, but they just won't give him those minutes consistently.
The biggest issue for the Oilers this year isn't a roster inbalance (aside from not having a starting goalie, which Oiler fans are livid over), it's that too many of our guys have had down seasons. Really only Draisaitl, Nurse and Kulak have played consistently well all season. McDavid has been off a bit for most of the year. Ekholm and Hyman have battled some health issues which has affected their game greatly. Bouchard's defensive play has regressed, and you can tell his confidence is shaken. Nuge's offense seemed to have dried up for long stretches. Stu has been awful. Most of the depth forwards haven't produced as hoped, although some of the expectations there might have been unrealistic, as nobody should have expected guys like Brown and Janmark to produce like they did in the playoffs over a full season. But this is still a team that has looked dominant at times. I won't say there's no reason for concern heading into the playoffs, but they are still a contender when things get rolling for them.
They do have an issue with the future though. We keep trading picks and prospects to help with the "now", but not having a reliable pipeline moving forward could be problematic. We really only have a couple of guys in the system who are likely to be contributers at the NHL level in any significant capacity.
PlayersLtd
Registered User
- Mar 6, 2019
- 1,245
- 1,509
When you have two players (or one line etc...) that are so dominant you end up playing to the strengths of those players exclusively. You tailor your game plan and style of play only to those players. At practice, other lines are not practicing to their strengths, they are falling in line with the game play of the top two. They then don't develop any identity, they aren't efficient, they don't gel and at the end of the day you don't get the most out of your secondary scoring.
It is the opposite with a balanced team. The coach will develop a style of play that everyone can attain, far less tailored to the elite skill of a couple individuals. The team works on it together at practice, it gets hammered home, it becomes the unitary identity of the team, everyone plays it and buys in.
On the extreme end of the balanced team you have Vegas from '23 or Vancouver from '24. On the extreme end of the former you have Edmonton.
It is the opposite with a balanced team. The coach will develop a style of play that everyone can attain, far less tailored to the elite skill of a couple individuals. The team works on it together at practice, it gets hammered home, it becomes the unitary identity of the team, everyone plays it and buys in.
On the extreme end of the balanced team you have Vegas from '23 or Vancouver from '24. On the extreme end of the former you have Edmonton.
A 1st overall HOF guy is now worse than Skinner LOL
ManofSteel55
Registered User
I still think the Holloway offer sheet situation was someone in the front office letting their emotions overtake their logic. They let go a promising kid for way too little, after he had done everything the Oilers had asked of him, and was looking like he was about to break out. I don't blame them for passing on Broberg, that was a disgusting overpay for what he had shown he could do on the ice. But there was no reason to pass on Holloway. They could easily have fit him in over the summer and made a deal to get back under the cap before the season started.
We also need to realize that this team is still playing without two middle six wingers, as Kane and Frederic are both expected to be ready before the playoffs. If they can come in and make an impact immediately, the Oilers will be scary. If they come in and are too rusty or don't find a fit, that is a big hit to the Oilers.
KrisLetAngry
MrJukeBoy
I do wonder at times how much of that was also injuries. Crosby missing large parts of 3 seasons during prime scoring years.
The Gr8 Dane
L'harceleur
GIVE EM MORE BANANASImagine how tired both teams would be
hangman005
I still miss Logan Thompson
I might disagree with you on this as both Holloway and Broberg had the decision to not sign those offer sheets and remain with the Oilers. I believe both have stated/alluded to wanting out of Edmonton to what the op has stated (not enough playing time or opportunity. It also has been highlighted that McDavid was and is really irked at Holloway for taking the offer sheet (was blindsided by the news and some of the actions in games vs the Blues). No doubt that most coaches and Gm's would ride McDrai as they are top calibre players in the world. That being said, the Oilers lost a lot of speed and offense with those players gone. The Oilers are running out of time to get McDavid a cup and if they do not win it all this year, could McDavid want out (doubt it) but the Oilers window is shrinking and some of their significant players have taken a step back. That being said I would take McDavid over anyone else in the NHL.
GhostfaceWu
Shi Shaw
- Feb 11, 2015
- 9,726
- 9,970
That's actually the opposite of a culture issue if the team was keeping a bunch of players that cared more about their caphit than winning a cup than that is a culture issue
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